In September 2022, the Principal of the College, Dr. Adwoa Kwegyiriba at a workshop for Lead Mentors and Mentors from all the GES Partner Schools in the Hohoe Municipality, made a generous promise to support these schools with plastic chairs in an effort to ease the burden of both mentors and mentees during Supported Teaching in Schools (STS). In fulfillment of this generous promise, about 500 plastic chairs were donated to these Partners Schools on Friday, February 10, 2023, at a brief ceremony.

The donation covered 42 out of the 66 Partner Schools so far. In the coming weeks, the rest of the 24 Partner Schools will receive their complement of chairs. An estimated 800 plastic chairs will be donated by the end of the 2022/2023 academic year to all 66 Partner Schools.

In delivering the Chair s to Schools, the STS coordinator Mr.  Daniel Attakumah said he was glad management had taken the initiative to solve the problem of inadequate chairs for teachers in the partner schools. The STS coordinator who equally represented the Principal in donating the chairs indicated to the head teachers that the gesture was to enable them to accommodate mentees during STS.  The head teachers were appreciative and anticipate more good gestures from the college.

Supported Teaching in School (STS) is part of the 4-year Bachelor of Education program for the Colleges of Education in Ghana. As required, every week, mentees from the College from level 100 to 300 embark on a one-day STS with the partner schools. The STS is integrated into the training across the four years. It is to help the student teacher apply and develop the skills, knowledge, and understanding acquired in their college-based training in schools and with the support of mentors and link tutors.  Franco has 66 partner basic schools. Some of the partner schools include St. Francis Demonstration basic schools, Gbi Roman Catholic Boys basic schools, Holy Rosary basic schools, Zion basic schools, the E.P. basic schools, the SDA basic school, Gbi-Kpeme High M/A basic schools, Hohoe Adabraka English Arabic, Hohoe Experimental M/A basic schools, among others.

In September 2022, the STS unit of the College organised a one-day capacity-building workshop for lead mentors (head teachers) and mentors (teachers) of the partner basic schools in the Hohoe Municipality. The workshop gathered 81 mentors and lead mentors of 40 partner basic schools. The purpose of the workshop was to equip the participants for the college’s Supported Teaching in Schools (STS) program and to keep them updated on the new trends and what they should expect going forward as far as STS is concerned.

Dr. Adwoa Kwegyiriba in her statement appreciated the efforts of the participants in shaping the mentees that are sent to their various schools. She also pledged her unwavering support to the schools. “It takes a collective effort to get these mentees shaped into good teachers for the future of our kids and country”, she added.

Various facilitators took the participants through the checklist for the first- and second-year STS program. The emphasis was on what they should expect from the students (mentees) during their observations. Other topics included best teaching practices; teaching and learning materials (TLM); lesson planning and classroom organization and management.

The participants indicated their willingness to play their roles professionally to achieve the expected goal.